Towards Evaluating Material Compliance Maturity in Manufacturing Companies - Conceptual Basics of a Model-based Assessment Approach

For years, the significance of compliance management in manufacturing companies has been increasing. A subarea that has so far had little presence in the scientific community is material compliance management, which is concerned with implementing the increasingly complex product-related environmental and chemical regulations in companies. Recent studies show that companies often fail to correctly determine their present situation and to identify appropriate business process optimization potentials. This paper thus introduces a maturity model to categorize manufacturing companies based on the advancement of their existing material compliance management systems. The application of the model, which was developed as part of a national research project, involves a comprehensive questionnaire to assess a companies’ knowledge of legal implications, supplier communication, and awareness of customer demands. Based on the resulting classification of companies into four levels (explorer, beginner, advanced, and expert), the model reveals distinct strengths and weaknesses of each company. In the future, the model can serve as a tool to effectuate material compliance management within a potential further framework of increasing regulatory and customer requirements. Therefore, we outline future fields of action for research and transfer of the model into industrial practice.